Fastening fob



UNITED sTATEs PATENT oEEIoE.

SMITH YOUNG, OF MILTON, NEW YORK.

FASTENING- FOR GATES.

Specification of Letters Patent No. 15,911, dated October 14, 1856.

To all 'whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, SMITH YOUNG, of Milton, in the county of Ulster and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Fastenings for Gates Which Open Both Inward and Outward; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompany ing drawings, forming part of this specification, in which- I Figure 1 is a front View of a gate, having my improved fastening applied to it. Fig. 2 is a horizontal section of the same through the line (m), (zu), Fig. l. Fig. 3 is an edge or side View of the gate with a portion of the fastening. Fig. 4 is an edge or side view of one of the posts with the other portion of the fastening.

Similar letters of reference in each of the several figures indicate corresponding parts.

My invention relates particularly to gates which open in two directionsor inward and outward, and is designed to insure the automatic fastening of the same whether swung to or closed from the outside or inside.

The nature of my vinvention consists in the employment of two pivoted spring catches on the post of the gate in combination with a stationary central stop and two hand levers on the front edge of the gate, as presently shown and described. I

To enable those skilled in the art to make and use my invention, I will proceed to describe its construction and operation.

A, is the gate. It is arranged as usual between two posts B, B1, being hinged to the rear post B, in the manner shown or otherwise.

C, is a metal plate cast with ears a, a, a, a, on its face. It is screwed to the post B1. D, D1, are two spring catches pivoted to said plate as shown. The catch D, is arranged so as to stand oblique to the face of t-he post B1, in an opposite manner to D1, when the plate C, is screwed to the post B1.

E, is another metal plate cast with a central bead or stop Z, on its face as shown. This plate is arranged on the edge of the gate in such relation to the catches D, D1,

that the stop comes between the catches when the gate is closed.

F, F1, are two levers pivoted to the plate E, on either side of the stop o, and in such relation to the spring catches that by pressing the hand `upon the upper end of either of them the lower end of the same is caused to operate upon one of the catches in a manner to cause it to recede from behind or in front of the stop b, and thus allow of the gate being opened in one direction or inward. Of course by operating the other catch in a similar manner the gate can be opened in another direction or outward.

Operation: The gate being closed securely by the two catches and it is desired to open it inward, it is simply necessary to press `against the lever F, and thereby force the springcatch from in front of the stop b. This being done the gate is swung open in the usual manner. As the gate is swung back to its original position or is being closed it comes against the oblique face of the catch D, and causes it to recede and stand parallel with the `inner edge of the post B, and thus allow the gate to escape by it, and as the gate escapes by the catch D, it comes in contact with the catch D1, and is prevented from opening outward, and at the same time the catch D, regains its proper position in front of the stop b, and thus the gate is securely fastened and prevented from opening either inward or outward. To open the gate outward, the lever F1, must be operated and the catch D1, moved thereby from behind the stop. After the gate has thus Abeen opened, it, in being swung to or closed,

escapes by the catch D1, and comes in contact with and is prevented from opening inward by the catch D, and at the same moment the catch D1, regains its position behind the stop and prevents its opening outward, and thus the gate is securely fastened and prevented from opening in either direction.

By ,having two catches, the gate can open in two directions and yet will always automatically fasten itself, no matter how hard it be closed, as one of the catches will serve as a stop to prevent it escaping past the post when swung to, from either the inside or outside, While the other as soon as the gate is entirely closed Will spring before 0r loehind it in a manner to securely fasten it.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is,

The employment of tWo pivoted spring catches on the post B1, in Combination With a stationary central stop b, and two hand levers F, Fl, on the front edge of the gate; 10 substantially as and for the purpose set 

